Rat Sound principals Dave Rat and Jon Monson, who worked with EAW to develop the MicroWedge line of stage monitors, contributed throughout the research and development process for Anya. According to EAW president Jeff Rocha, the decision to deploy the initial pilot build for the high-profile event came relatively late in the planning cycle.
"When Dave and Jon came to the factory to work with the final engineering prototypes, they asked if they could use the first 16-module build live at Coachella," Rocha said. "Naturally, we were thrilled to showcase our new product at one of our industry's most important and demanding events."
The Coachella Festival, held at the Empire Polo Grounds near Palm Springs, features two massive outdoor stages and three very large tent stages. The Gobi tent's audience area measures roughly 165ft wide by 200ft deep (50m x 61m).
Gobi hosted performances from midday until past midnight three days running on back-to-back weekends. Weather conditions ranged from 50° to 100° F and included a once-in-a-decade dust storm that shut many roads for a number of days. Despite the many challenging conditions, the fully integrated Anya system performed flawlessly for the entire run of the show.
"The Anya system sounded great and did an excellent job of covering the space," Dave Rat said. "It is really exciting to have a hands-on experience with a new technology system thrown right into a challenging, real-world application. It's especially interesting that even though this was the first time this system was deployed, we were able to hear a wide variety of engineers mix on it. It became readily apparent that Anya is positioned to become a world-class system. Anya fulfilled its sonic and performance expectations, solidifying Rat Sound's commitment to take delivery of the first 40 production units in June."
(Jim Evans)
